Sept 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were slightly lower in choppy trading on Thursday morning as oil prices pulled back and investors assessed a set of economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials.

Oil prices rallied nearly 6 percent on Wednesday following an agreement among major oil producing countries to curb output, but were down a day later as investors worried about the deal’s impact on oversupply.

Investors are awaiting Fed Chair Yellen’s speech in Washington and will look for hints on the timing of the next interest rate hike.

The markets have been at the mercy of every Fed deliberation as its members remain divided over whether the U.S. economy is strong enough to absorb a rate hike in the near term.

Kansas City Fed President and voting member Esther George told CNBC that it was time to move ahead with a rate hike. She is scheduled to speak at a conference later in the day.

U.S. economic growth was less sluggish in the second quarter than previously thought as gross domestic product expanded at a 1.4 percent annual rate, compared with the prior estimate of 1.1 percent rise.

Another report showed that the number of Americans applying for jobless claims rose less-than-expected last week.

At 9:46 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was down 6.88 points, or 0.04 percent, at 18,332.36.

The S&P 500 was down 2.22 points, or 0.1 percent, at 2,169.15.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 8.78 points, or 0.17 percent, at 5,309.77.

“I think you are going to get a tight-ranged choppy market,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in New Jersey.

Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, weighed down by healthcare, while utilities fell the most by 0.87 percent.